Fencing card game

ABSTRACT

A fencing match is simulated by a card game that includes a plurality of action cards and a plurality of judgment cards. Each action card includes an indication of a movement distance, a reach distance and a relative strength of an action. Each judgment card includes an indication of a successful play, an unsuccessful play or a penalty. Each action card also includes an indication of a type of movement and a direction of movement that is associated with the movement distance, the reach distance and the relative strength, and whether the type of movement is an offensive movement or a defensive movement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to card games. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to a card-based game that simulates acombative sporting event.

2. Description of the Related Art

Sports-based card games are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No.1,322,954 to Rosenfeld, U.S. Pat. No. 1,404,599 to Glenny and U.S. Pat.No. 1,640,261 to Whaley et al. each disclose a card game simulating aboxing match. U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,031 to Simms discloses a competitivecard wrestling game that simulates a competitive wrestling match. U.S.Pat. No. 5,040,796 to Schall discloses a card-based game that simulatesa football game. More recently, another card game, entitled “En garde,”has been developed to simulate a fencing match.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a card-based game that simulates afencing match.

In that regard, the present invention provides a card game having aplurality of action cards and a plurality of judgment cards. Each actioncard includes an indication of movement distance, reach distance andrelative strength. Each judgment card includes an indication of asuccessful play, an unsuccessful play or a penalty. Each action cardalso includes an indication of a type of movement and a direction ofmovement that is associated with the movement distance, the reachdistance and the relative strength, and whether the type of movement isan offensive movement or a defensive movement. In one exemplaryembodiment, the card game simulates a fencing bout. In another exemplaryembodiment, the card game simulates a boxing match. In yet anotherexemplary embodiment, the card game simulates a martial arts match, suchas a simulated judo match, a simulated karate match or a simulated TaeKwan Do match.

The present invention also provides a method of playing a card game inwhich at least one action card is selected from a first group of actioncards. Each action card that is played is played as an offensive action.According to the present invention, each action card played includes anindication of a movement distance, an indication of a reach distance andan indication of a relative strength of the offensive action. A replyaction card selected from a second group of action cards and played inresponse to the offensive action. The reply action card includes anindication of a movement distance, an indication of a reach distance andan indication of a relative strength in response to the offensiveaction. Each action card and each reply action card also includes anindication of a type of movement and a direction of movement that isassociated with the movement distance, the reach distance and therelative strength, and whether the type of movement is an offensivemovement or a defensive movement.

A result of playing each offensive action card and the reply action cardis then determined. The result is based on at least one of a distance ofseparation resulting from the indication of the movement distance ofeach action card played as an offensive action and the indication of themovement distance of the reply action card, the indication of the reachdistance on an action card played as an offensive action, and adifference in the indication of the relative strength of the offensiveaction on an action card played as an offensive action and theindication of the relative strength on the reply action card.

The game continues by repeatedly playing at least one action card as asubsequent offensive action, playing a corresponding reply action cardin response to the subsequent offensive action and determining theresults of playing each offensive action card and the reply action card.A judgment card is selected from a third group of cards to determine theoutcome when the indication of relative strength on one of an actioncard played as an offensive action and the corresponding reply actioncard is greater than the indication of strength on the correspondinglyplayed action card and the distance of separation resulting from theindication of the movement distance of each action card played as anoffensive action and the indication of the movement distance of thecorresponding reply action card is less than a predetermined distance.Each judgment card of the third group of cards includes an indication ofat least one of a successful play, an unsuccessful play or a penalty.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not bylimitation in the accompanying figures in which like reference numeralsindicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary format for an Action card according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 2A-2E respectively depict exemplary Action cards according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary format for a Referee card according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 4A-4C respectively depict exemplary Referee cards according to thepresent invention; and

FIGS. 5A-5C depict exemplary sequences of play according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a card-based game that uses two decks of cards,an Action deck and a Referee deck, for simulating attacks and responsesthat would normally be expected in an actual fencing bout. The cards inthe Action deck are used to simulate a move that is close enough to anopponent so that the opponent can be reached with sufficient strength toscore a touch. The cards in the Referee deck are used for determiningthe validity of a touch that has been scored and for determining whethera penalty is assessed. Tournament play for more than two fencers can besimulated using multiple decks in pools or a direct-elimination format.

As used herein, the terms “player,” “attacker,” “defender,” “fencer,”and “opponent” generally indicate a participant playing the game of thepresent invention. In particular, the terms “player” and “fencer,” asused herein, generally refer to a game participant. The term “attacker,”as used herein, generally refers to a game participant that isinitiating an offensive fencing movement. The terms “defender” and“opponent,” as used herein, generally refer to a game participant thatdefends or responds to an offensive or a defensive fencing moveinitiated by the other a player.

The Action Deck

The majority of the Action cards forming the Action deck depict both anoffensive and defensive fencing move. Some Action cards also includespecial narrative instructions. FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary format foran Action card 100. Action card 100 includes a region 101 thatillustrates a fencing move, a region or field 102 that identifies theoffensive fencing move, regions or fields 103 a and 103 b that set forthnumerical quantities associated with elements characterizing theoffensive fencing move, a region or field 104 that identifies thedefensive fencing move, and regions or fields 105 a and 105 b that setforth numerical quantities associated with elements characterizing thedefensive fencing move. FIGS. 2A-2E respectively depict exemplary Actioncards 201-205.

Exemplary offensive fencing moves that can be identified in region 102include, but are not limited to, prise de fer, advance, lunge, advancelunge, double advance beat attack, and compound attack. Exemplarydefensive fencing moves that can be identified in region 104 include,but are not limited to, indirect parry reposte, parry reposte, parryreposte retreat and yielding parry.

When an Action card includes special narrative instructions, the specialnarrative instructions can be in addition to an identified offensive ordefensive fencing move respectively in regions 103 and 105, or as analternative to an identified offensive or defensive fencing move.Exemplary special narrative instructions include, but are not limited tobroken weapon—halts attack.

The offensive fencing move and the defensive fencing move identified onan Action card each have three move elements characterizing the fencingmove with respect to a distance of the move, a reach associated with themove and a strength associated with the move. The quality or magnitudeof a move element is represented by a numerical value. The units forboth a distance element and a reach element are the same and arereferred to herein as distance or reach units. The unit for a strengthelement is a relative strength. The move elements characterizing afencing move on an Action card are generally different from the moveelements characterizing the fencing move on another Action card.Depending on the particular fencing move, the numerical values for acorresponding move element can vary between negative and positivenumbers and can be equal to zero.

For example, Action card 100 in FIG. 1 has three move elements for boththe offensive and defensive fencing move. In particular, move elementscorresponding to the offensive fencing move are indicated by numberswithin circles at regions 103 a and 103 b. In region 103 a, the first,or left-most, move element corresponds to the distance element for theoffensive fencing move. The second, or middle, move element correspondsto the reach element, and the third, or right-most, move elementcorresponds to the strength element. For this example, the distanceelement for the offensive defensive move has a numerical value of 1, thereach element has a numerical value of 2, and a strength value of 3. Themove elements in region 103 b are oriented upside down with respect tothe move elements in region 103 a so that the offensive fencing moveelements are easily read depending on how the Action card is played.

The move elements corresponding to the defensive fencing move of Actioncard 100 are indicated by numbers within squares are regions 105 a and105 b. In region 105 a, the first, or right-most, move element (viewedupside down in FIG. 1) corresponds to the strength element for thedefensive fencing move. The second, or middle, move element (viewedupside down in FIG. 1) corresponds to the reach element, and the third,or left-most, move element (viewed upside down in FIG. 1) corresponds tothe distance element. For this example, the strength element for thedefensive fencing move has a numerical value of 3, the reach element hasa numerical value of 0, and a distance value of 0. The move elements inregion 105 b are oriented upside down with respect to the move elementsin region 105 a so that the offensive fencing move elements are easilyread depending on how the Action card is played.

It should be understood that the placement of move elements on an Actioncard could be anywhere, regardless whether the move is an offensive ordefensive fencing move. Additionally, it should be understood that thearrangement or order of move elements for a fencing move can bedifferent from the arrangement depicted in FIG. 1. Further still, itshould be understood that shapes other than the circular and squareshapes respective used for offensive and defensive fencing moves andthat are depicted in FIG. 1 could be used. Additionally oralternatively, colors could be used for indicating particular moveelements are associated with an offensive or a defensive fencing move.For example, in one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thedistance element of a move could be printed in red, the reach elementcould be printed in blue and the strength element could be printed ingreen. It should be understood that other colors could alternatively beused for depicting the respective move elements. Further still, itshould be understood that two decks of Action cards could be used inwhich one deck contains Action cards depicting offensive fencing movesand the other deck contains Action cards depicting defensive fencingmoves.

During play, only one Action card is played at a time by a player unlessthe Action card is accompanied by another Action card having only adistance element, that is, an Action card in which the reach andstrength element values both equal 0. Each Action card can only beplayed once using either the offensive or defensive fencing movedepicted on the card.

The Referee Deck

The Referee deck is used for determining the validity of a touch thathas been scored and for determining whether a penalty is to be assessed.In normal play, the fencer scoring a touch turns over the top card onthe Referee deck to reveal a referee's decision regarding whether thetouch is awarded, the referee's view of the action, or whether one ormore penalties are assessed. FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary format for aReferee card 300 that includes a region or field 301 that can contain inimage of a referee or a description of a referee's decision, and anoptional region or field 302 that can contain a description of thereferee's decision. FIGS. 4A-4C respectively depict exemplary Refereecards 401-403 having a referee's decision. Other Referee cards that arenot shown can be yellow and red.

Special Referee cards have a narrative description that accordinglysupersedes any of the game rules. Each subsequent yellow card receivedby a fencer after the fencer has received a yellow card results in atouch for the fencer's opponent. Each red penalty card received by afencer results in a touch for the fencer's opponent. A fencer receivinga penalty retains the penalty card. Touches are counted by retainingtouch-awarded cards. Alternatively, score could be kept on a scoresheet.

Description of Play

The fencing card game according to the present invention begins bydetermining which player deals first, such as by flipping a coin. Analternatively technique that could be used for determining which playerdeals first could be based on, for example, the relative ages of theplayers or a roll of a die. For each hand played, the dealer is definedas the attacker. The other player is defined as the defender. Theattacker separately shuffles both the Action and Referee decks andoffers both decks to the defender to cut. Once both decks are cut, theattacker deals six (6) Action cards face down to each fencer. The Actioncards are kept secret until played.

The players start with a distance separating each fencer of four (4)distance units. The attacker plays the first Action card face up betweenthe fencers starting from the attacker's left (i.e., the dealer's left).An Action card, when played, can be employed as an offensive or adefensive move. Offensive distance values move a fencer towards anopponent, while defensive values move a fencer away from an opponent.Each move is played pointing the move type depicted on an Action cardtowards the opponent. That is, when the move played is an offensivefencing move, the offensive fencing move portion of the Action card isplayed oriented toward the opponent. For example, fields 102 and 103 adepicted in FIG. 1 are played oriented toward the attacker's opponent.Similarly, when the move played is a defensive fencing move, thedefensive move portion of the Action card is played oriented toward theopponent. For example, fields 104 and 105 a depicted in FIG. 1 areplayed oriented toward the defender's opponent. When an Action card isplayed, it cannot be picked up.

The distance element of the Action card affects the distance between thetwo fencers. The reach element indicates the reach of the fencer playingthe Action card. Once a fencer is close enough to hit (i.e., reach) theopponent, an attack can be launched. When an attack is launched thatreaches the opponent, the opponent has an opportunity to defend theattack using defensive moves indicated on Action cards in the opponent'spossession. Only defensive fencing moves having strength values that areequal to or greater than the strength value of the last-played offensiveAction card of an attacker will defend the offensive action.

When the defensive strength is equal to the attacker's offensivestrength, the offensive action is neutralized and fencing continues atthe current distance. When the defensive strength exceeds the offensivestrength, the fencing phrase continues using defensive fencing movesuntil a strength value cannot be exceeded or neutralized, or there is achange of distance.

When the reach of the offensive move equals the distance between theplayers, the offensive move cannot be defended. The opponent cannot playan Action card as a defensive move, and the top card of the Referee deckis then drawn. An offensive move that is made with a distance change ofany amount or when the reach is not the exact distance apart can bedefended with a defensive move. An offensive move in which the reachgoes past the opponent counts as a potential touch and must be defendedor a touch is awarded. When there is a distance change caused by adefensive move, the opponent (i.e., the attacker) of the defensive movemay play an offensive move, but if the opponent of the defensive moveresponds with a defensive move, the opponent of the defensive move musthave the necessary reach to score. When distance between the two fencersbecomes 0, the phrase may continue until a touch is scored or thestrength value is neutralized. When opponents are at a distance of 0distance units and the strength has been neutralized, the opponents areseparated back to a distance of 4 distance units, the deal changeshands, Action cards are dealt so each fencer has six (6) cards and thebout continues. Alternatively, the number of cards that are dealt toeach fencer could be different for this situation.

When play forces a distance that moves a player past an opponent, thatis, a distance less than 0, the strength still counts and the opponentcan only play one Action card to neutralize or defend the action.Regardless whether a valid touch is scored or neutralized, the fencersare separated back to a distance of 4, the deal changes hands, cards aredealt to each fencer until each has six cards, and the bout continues.

A touch can be awarded when a fencer is touching their opponent and theopponent does not have a card that would defend the offensive action. Inparticular, the distance between two players must be less than or equalto the values of the distance and reach of the played Action cards. Aperfect offensive move is made with reach only such that the distancebetween the players remaining unchanged.

At any time during a phrase, a fencer can call touché (acknowledge atouch) or may choose to play an Action card that neither neutralizes norexceeds the strength of the offensive move, which halts the action.Playing an Action card that neither neutralizes nor exceeds the strengthof the offensive action can be used to dispose of weak Action cards. Thefencer whose action scores a touch turns over the top card of theReferee deck for a Referee's decision regarding the validity of a touch.

When a player runs out of Action cards during play, the player runs outof moves. The player's opponent can continue to play Action cards untilthe opponent scores or wishes to stop.

When all Action cards have been played and no touches have been scored,the fencers are separated to a distance of four (4) distance units andthe deal changes hands. The new dealer deals six (6) Action cards toeach fencer and the bout continues.

Examples of Play

FIGS. 5A-5C depict two exemplary scenarios of play according to thepresent invention. The first exemplary scenario of play is depicted byFIGS. 5A and 5B and the second exemplary scenario of play is depicted byFIGS. 5A and 5C. For both exemplary scenarios of play, the fencers begina distance of four (4) distance units apart.

In the first exemplary scenario of play, the attacker plays two Actioncards 501 and 502, as depicted in FIG. 5A. The first Action card 501 hasfor the offensive fencing move a distance element value of 1, a reachelement of 0 and a strength element of 0. The second Action card 502 hasfor the offensive fencing move a distance element value of 1, a reachelement of 2, and a strength element of 2. The result of playing cards501 and 502 is that the fencers are separated by a distance of 2 and theattacker is now hitting his opponent with a strength value of 2 becausethe reach of the attacker is 2. The attacker must announce the move andthe strength with which the attacker is hitting the opponent. Forexample, the attacker would announce “I am hitting with a strength of 2at a distance of 2.”

FIG. 5B depicts the continuation of the first exemplary scenario ofplay. In particular, the defender plays an Action card 503 having adefensive fencing move with a strength element value of 2 thatneutralizes the offensive move created by the combination of Actioncards 501 and 502. Play now continues with the attacker now playinganother Action card at the new distance of 2.

Alternatively, as the second exemplary scenario of play, if the defenderhad played an Action card having a defensive strength element value of3, such as depicted by Action card 504 in FIG. 5C, the phrase continues.The defender is now hitting the attacker with a strength element valueof 1, that is, the difference between the two strengths element valuesof the offensive and defensive actions played. The defender then wouldannounce “I am hitting you with a strength of 1.” At this point, theattacker must use a defensive move to either neutralize or exceed thetouching strength. If the attacker cannot neutralize or exceed thetouching strength, the attacker is touched by the defender.

In the case that the attack was neutralized or exceeded, the phrasecontinues until (1) an Action card cannot be neutralized or exceeded,(2) one of the fencer calls touché or (3) the players run out of actionsand are unable to play.

When a touch has been achieved, the fencer winning the touch draws thetop card off the Referee deck to reveal the Referee's decision regardingthe validity of the touch. Once a touch has been awarded (i.e., valid),the played Action cards are removed from the playing space, a coin isagain flipped or an alternative technique is used to determine theattacker, and the remaining Action deck is handed to the new attackerwho deals enough cards to each player until each player has six (6)cards each, without shuffling the cards. The bout then continues asbefore.

Each fencer keeps their touch-awarded cards for keeping score or uses ascore sheet. The first fencer scoring five (5) touches wins the bout.Each fencer is responsible for keeping track of the current distance,reach, and strength. When a mistake is made in announcing the distance,reach or strength, an opponent can take advantage of the error or cancorrect the error only at time of play. In normal play, a fencerreceiving five valid touches wins a bout.

While the present invention has been described in terms of a fencingmatch, the present invention is not so limited. For example, analterative embodiment of the present invention could be a card-basedgame simulating a boxing match and with the offensive and defensiveactions relating to boxing actions. Accordingly, the values of the moveelements would correspond to offensive and defensive boxing actions.Another alternative embodiment of the present invention could be acard-based game simulating a martial-arts match, such as a judo match, akarate match or a Tae Kwan Do match, with the values of the moveelements corresponding to offensive and defensive martial-art actions.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection by the copyright owner, Fencerson Deck LLC, successors and assigns (the “copyright owner”). Thecopyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyoneof the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in thePatent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail forpurposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certainchanges and modifications may be practiced that are within the scope ofthe appended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is notto be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified withinthe scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

1. A card game, comprising: a plurality of action cards, each actioncard including an indication of movement distance, reach distance andrelative strength; and a plurality of judgment cards, each judgment cardincluding an indication of at least one of a successful play, anunsuccessful play and a penalty.
 2. The card game according to claim 1,wherein each action card further includes an indication of a type ofmovement that is associated with the movement distance, the reachdistance and the relative strength.
 3. The card game according to claim2, wherein the indication of the type of movement is one of an offensivemovement and a defensive movement.
 4. The card game according to claim1, wherein each action card further includes an indication of adirection of movement.
 5. The card game according to claim 1, whereinthe card game simulates a fencing bout.
 6. The card game according toclaim 1, wherein the card game simulates a boxing match.
 7. The cardgame according to claim 1, wherein the card game simulates a martialarts match.
 8. The card game according to claim 7, wherein the simulatedmartial arts match is a simulated judo match.
 9. The card game accordingto claim 7, wherein the simulated martial arts match is a simulatedkarate match.
 10. The card game according to claim 7, wherein thesimulated martial arts match is a simulated Tae Kwan Do match.
 11. Amethod of playing a card game, the method comprising: playing at leastone action card selected from a first group of action cards, each actioncard played being played as an offensive action, and each action cardplayed including an indication of a movement distance, an indication ofa reach distance and an indication of a relative strength of theoffensive action; playing a reply action card selected from a secondgroup of action cards in response to the offensive action, the replyaction card including an indication of a movement distance, anindication of a reach distance and an indication of a relative strengthin response to the offensive action; determining a result of playingeach offensive action card and the reply action card, the result beingbased on at least one of a distance of separation resulting from theindication of the movement distance of each action card played as anoffensive action and the indication of the movement distance of thereply action card, the indication of the reach distance on an actioncard played as an offensive action, and a difference in the indicationof the relative strength of the offensive action on an action cardplayed as an offensive action and the indication of the relativestrength on the reply action card; repeatedly playing at least oneaction card as a subsequent offensive action, playing a correspondingreply action card in response to the subsequent offensive action anddetermining the results of playing each offensive action card and thereply action card; selecting a judgment card from a third group of cardsto determine the outcome when the indication of relative strength on oneof an action card played as an offensive action and the correspondingreply action card is greater than the indication of strength on thecorrespondingly played action card and the distance of separationresulting from the indication of the movement distance of each actioncard played as an offensive action and the indication of the movementdistance of the corresponding reply action card is less than apredetermined distance, each judgment card of the third group of cardsincluding an indication of at least one of a successful play, anunsuccessful play and a penalty.
 12. The method according to claim 11,wherein each action card further includes an indication of a type ofmovement that is associated with the movement distance, the reachdistance and the relative strength.
 13. The method according to claim12, wherein the indication of the type of movement is one of anoffensive movement and a defensive movement.
 14. The method gameaccording to claim 11, wherein each action card further includes anindication of a direction of movement.
 15. The method according to claim11, wherein the method simulates a fencing bout.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 11, wherein the method simulates a boxing match. 17.The method according to claim 11, wherein the method simulates a martialarts match.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the simulatedmartial arts match is a simulated judo match.
 19. The method accordingto claim 17, wherein the simulated martial arts match is a simulatedkarate match.
 20. The method according to claim 17, wherein thesimulated martial arts match is a simulated Tae Kwan Do match.